Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away at 84 in Delhi's Army Hospital (R&R)

Former President Dr. Pranab Mukherjee passed away on Monday after being put in a coma post a successful brain surgery at Army Hospital (R&R) in New Delhi. The news was confirmed by his son - Abhijit Mukherjee, who thanked the hospital staff and doctors for their efforts. The 84-year-old was hospitalised on August 10 to undergo brain surgery for the removal of a clot and had tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away

Pranab Mukherjee's deteriorating health

Since August 10, regular reports from the Army Hospital stated that the former President was in deep coma and on ventilator support, remaining haemodynamically stable while being treated for lung infection. While he had been operated for removal of a clot in the brain, he had also developed a lung infection and had a renal dysfunction apart from being infected with COVID-19 at the time of admission. Mukherjee was the 13th President of India from 2012-2017.

About Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee was  born in the small village of Mirati in Birbhum District of West Bengal as son of freedom fighters, Shri Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee and Rajlakshmi on December 11, 1935. After acquiring a Master’s degree in History and Political Science as well as a degree in Law from the University of Kolkata, he became a college teacher and a journalist. Joining the Congress party, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1969.

Rising in former PM Indira Gandhi's cabinet, he was made Deputy Minister, Industry, Shipping and Transport, Steel and Industry and Minister of State for Finance in 1973-74 during the Emergency era. He was first made Finance Minister in 1982 in the Indira Gandhi cabinet and was Leader of the House in the Upper House of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from 1980 to 1985. Later he was made Minister for Commerce from 1993 to 1995, Minister of External Affairs from 1995 to 1996, Minister of Defence from 2004 to 2006, Minister of External Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012 and Leader of the Lok Sabh from 2004-2012, till he resigned to be made President of India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna- India's highest civilian honour in 2019.

Mukherjee was most notably known for his economic policies - specifically improving India's finances to successfully returning the last instalment of India's first IMF loan. Moreover, in the Narasimha Rao government as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, working alongside then-FM Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee put an end to Licence Raj to open up the Indian economy and to usher in significant economic reforms. Apart from presenting annual Budgets of 2009, 2010, 2011 he also laid the foundation for the Goods & Service Tax (GST) which was introduced in 2017 by then-FM Arun Jaitely.

Becoming the first Bengali to hold office as President of India, he was sworn into office on 25 July 2012.  As President, he promulgated several key Acts like the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 and also rejected the mercy pleas of death row convicts -  Yakub Memon, Ajmal Kasab, Afzal Guru leading to their hanging. Mukherjee is survived by his two sons and a daughter. His wife - Surva Mukherjee, whom he married in 1957, passed away on 18 August 2015, aged 74 of heart failure.